U.S. patent number 4,403,869 [Application Number 06/179,383] was granted by the patent office on 1983-09-13 for electro-optic identifiction code system in a timepiece.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Timex Corporation. Invention is credited to William C. Crutcher.
United States Patent |
4,403,869 |
Crutcher |
September 13, 1983 |
Electro-optic identifiction code system in a timepiece
Abstract
A combination timepiece and electro-optic identification code
device employs elements of the timekeeping display and has a
programmable read only memory (PROM) storing a number of
identification codes with means for selecting the code and
transmitting it from the memory via an electro-optic display
portion on the timekeeping display to an opto-electronic reader
placed in proximity with the timepiece. The code selected may be
unique to the device itself, may be selected by the user, and be a
machine-readable code representative of the time, or may be a
combination of any of the above codes.
Inventors: |
Crutcher; William C.
(Middlebury, CT) |
Assignee: |
Timex Corporation (Waterbury,
CT)
|
Family
ID: |
22656373 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/179,383 |
Filed: |
August 18, 1980 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
368/10; 368/239;
968/895; 968/962 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G11C
5/00 (20130101); G06K 19/06009 (20130101); G07C
9/28 (20200101); G07F 7/1008 (20130101); G06K
19/07 (20130101); G04G 21/00 (20130101); G06K
19/07762 (20130101); G06Q 20/346 (20130101); G04G
9/12 (20130101); G06K 19/07703 (20130101); G06K
19/077 (20130101); G06K 2019/06253 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G04G
1/00 (20060101); G06K 19/07 (20060101); G06K
19/077 (20060101); G06K 19/06 (20060101); G07F
7/10 (20060101); G11C 5/00 (20060101); G07C
9/00 (20060101); G04G 1/02 (20060101); G04G
9/00 (20060101); G04G 9/12 (20060101); G04B
047/00 (); G04C 017/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;368/46-52,55-58,82-84,155,156,200-202,239-242,10 ;73/6 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Miska; Vit W.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Crutcher; William C.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In an electronic timepiece of the type having a timebase
including an oscillator and countdown divider providing timing
pulses, timekeeping means connected to said divider and
periodically advanced by said pulses to keep time and to store time
information, and display means connected to said timekeeping means
and adapted to visually display the time, the improvement
comprising:
an electro-optic portion on said timepiece actuable between at
least two optical states wherein said electro-optic portion
comprises a section of closely spaced, parallel, separately
actuatable segments;
memory means inside the timepiece storing a plurality of
identification codes in binary form;
means for selecting one of said identification codes to be
transmitted and indicating the selection on said display means;
and
means for selectively transferring at least one selected
identification code from said memory means to said electro-optic
display portion and optically displaying said code in
machine-readable binary form on the electro-optic display portion
so that the codes stored in said memory means separately actuate
the segments in a bar code format adapted to be read by moving an
opto-electronic scanner past the segments.
2. In an electronic timepiece of the type having a timebase
including an oscillator and countdown divider providing timing
pulses, timekeeping means connected to said divider and
periodically advanced by said pulses to keep time and to store time
information, and display means connected to said timekeeping means
and adapted to visually display the time, the improvement
comprising:
an electro-optic portion on said timepiece actuatable between at
least two optical states said electro-optic portion comprising the
same segments which are normally supplied with decoded BCD signals
to make up digits on said display means;
memory means inside the timepiece storing a plurality of
identification codes in binary form;
means for selecting one of said identification codes to be
transmitted and indicating the selection on said display means;
and
means for selectively transferring at least one selected
identification code from said memory means to said electro-optic
display portion and optically displaying said code in
machine-readable binary form on the electro-optic display portion
in a random segment pattern without decoding, whereby said selected
code may be read by an opto-electronic sensor.
3. In an electronic timepiece of the type having a timebase
including an oscillator and countdown divider providing timing
pulses, timekeeping means connected to said divider and
periodically advanced by said pulses to keep time and to store time
information, and display means connected to said timekeeping means
and adapted to visually display the time, the improvement
comprising:
an electro-optic portion on said timepiece actuatable between at
least two optical states;
a display decoder actuated by said timekeeping means with a BCD
signal;
memory means inside the timepiece storing a plurality of
identification codes in binary form;
means for selecting one of said identification codes to be
transmitted and indicating the selection on said display means,
said code selection means comprising a BCD counter, and including a
switch responsive to said counter for transferring the counter
output to the display decoder, whereby the selected code is
displayed using at least one digit which is also used to display
the time; and
means for selectively transferring at least one selected
identification code from said memory means to said electro-optic
display portion and optically displaying said code in
machine-readable binary form on the electro-optic display portion
whereby said selected code may be read by an opto-electronic
sensor.
4. In an electronic timepiece of the type having a timebase
including an oscillator and countdown divider providing timing
pulses, timekeeping means connected to said divider and
periodically advanced by said pulses to keep time and to store time
information, and display means connected to said timekeeping means
and adapted to visually display the time, the improvement
comprising:
an electro-optic portion on said timepiece actuatable between at
least two optical states;
memory means inside the timepiece storing a plurality of
identification codes in binary form;
means for selecting one of said identification codes to be
transmitted and indicating the selection on said display means,
wherein said divider means is connected to advance the code
selection means in response to said timing pulses to provide a
sequential choice of code selections and is also connected to an
AND circuit together with a manually actuated switch to transmit
the selected code by varying the optical states on the
electro-optic portion at a higher frequency; and
means for selectively transferring at least one selected
identification code from said memory means to said electro-optic
display portion and optically displaying said code in
machine-readable binary form on the electro-optic display portion
whereby said selected code may be read by an opto-electronic
sensor.
5. In an electronic timepiece of the type having a timebase
including an oscillator and countdown divider providing timing
pulses, timekeeping means connected to said divider and
periodically advanced by said pulses to keep time and to store time
information, and display means connected to said timekeeping means
and adapted to visually display the time, the improvement
comprising:
an electro-optic portion on said timepiece actuatable between at
least two optical states, said electro-optic portion being disposed
inside the timepiece;
memory means inside the timepiece storing a plurality of
identification codes in binary form;
means for selecting one of said identification codes to be
transmitted and indicating the selection on said display means;
and
means for selectively transferring at least one selected
identification code from said memory means to said electro-optic
portion and optically displaying said code in machine-readable
binary form on the electro-optic portion whereby said selected code
may be read by an opto-electronic sensor, said code transferring
means including a push button switch having a light transmitting
section operatively associated with the electro-optic portion to
facilitate reading the electro-optic portion outside the timepiece
when transmitting a code.
6. The combination according to claim 5, wherein the pushbutton
switch is connected to initiate code transfer via the
light-transmitting section when the push button is depressed.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an electro-optic identification code
device incorporated in a timepiece which, when utilized with an
opto-electronic reader provides a wrist instrument generating
machine-readable codes from an electro-optic display associated
with the timekeeping display. Such a wrist instrument can
substitute for other types of personal identification devices, such
as a key, magnetic card or identification badge.
Watches have evolved from mechanical escapement devices into highly
accurate electronic devices incorporating an integrated circuit
with oscillator and countdown divider controlled by a quartz
crystal. The timekeeping display of a modern quartz watch may
either be in the form of a solid state electro-optic display such
as liquid crystal display (LCD), light-emitting diode (LED),
electro-chromic (EC). The time may be shown in digits, or may be
presented with conventional hands, in a quartz analog (QA) watch,
driven by a stepping motor from the integrated circuit. The
integrated circuits have become more and more complex and capable
of multi-function timekeeping, incorporating a programmable logic
arrays (PLA) to address a random access memory (RAM) storing and
incrementing the time information under the control of a program in
a read only memory (ROM). The memory capacity of integrated
circuits has continually been improved, increasing the
possibilities of other functions in a timepiece. Such a timepiece
is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,409-Bayliss issued Dec. 20,
1977 and assigned by Intel Corporation to the present assignee.
Identification systems have been proposed previously in
wristwatches employing coupling by means of radio waves between a
data identification wristwatch and a testing station in U.S. Pat.
No. 3,806,874 issued Apr. 23, 1974 to K. Ehrat. In th Ehrat patent,
various types of identification codes are transmitted to identify
the wearer of the wrist instrument. One alternative suggested for
problems of security from detection of radio transmissions consists
of direct connection of the identification unit to the testing
station.
Opto-electronic coupling is well-known for providing electrical
noise isolation in data communications. Code transmission using
modulated light sources has also been suggested in connection with
locks in lieu of a conventional mechanical key. For example, U.S.
Pat. No. 3,845,362 issued Oct. 29, 1974 to Roe and U.S. Pat. No.
3,872,435 issued Mar. 18, 1975 to Cestaro employ electro-optic
pulse trains from LED or other light sources to compare the pulses
to a pattern which, if coincidence occurs, allows the lock to be
opened. U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,738 issued Dec. 19, 1978 to Sandstedt
describes a wristwatch used in conjunction with a telephone hand
set adapted for coupling the two devices for data transmission. One
of the coupling alternatives includes electro-optic coupling.
Other types of security systems incorporating mechanical keys or
magnetic cards, as well as electronic solid state memory elements
are illustrated in the following U.S. Patents, which list is not
represented as complete, but only exemplary:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,806,882 issued Apr. 23, 1974 to Clarke
U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,229 issued Nov. 12, 1974 to Perron et. al.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,859,634 issued Jan. 7, 1975 to Perron et. al.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,214 issued Aug. 21, 1973 to Matsumoto et.
al.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,122 issued Jan. 20, 1976 to Riccitelli
Ordinarily the time display on a watch is intelligible to the user
in terms of presenting time information, but it is not presented in
machine-readable format. For example, an identification code could
be displayed in lieu of time of day upon a digital display. Reading
the digits electronically would require special digits and a
special optical character recognition (OCR) system to read the
display. However, many simplifications in machine reading have been
made using "bar code" readers which simply distinguish between the
presence or absence of light or dark succession of printed lines
and the width of the lines. A wand stroked across the coded pattern
detects narrow or wide lines by the difference in time required to
traverse the width. Commercially available "wands" associated with
opto-electronic equipment read standard printed bar code symbols on
products. Such codes include the Universal Product Code (UPC) on
food products or Code 39 for industrial goods. It would be
desirable to employ standard bar codes and commercially available
opto-electronic readers to receive optically transmitted
machine-readable codes from a wrist instrument for identification
purposes.
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an
improved identification device combined with a timepiece which
provides machine-readable codes from a electro-optic display
associated with the timekeeping display.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved device
for selecting an identification code form the memory in a timepiece
and for transmitting to an opto-electronic receiver.
Another object of the invention is to provide an improved secure
identification device incorporated in an electronic timepiece
memory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly stated, the invention comprises the improvement in an
electronic timepiece of the type having a timebase including an
oscillator and countdown divider providing timing pulses,
timekeeping means connected to said divider and periodically
advanced by said pulses to keep time and to store time information,
and means connected to the timekeeping means and adapted to
visually display the time, the improvement comprising an
electro-optic portion on said display actuatable between at least
two optical states, memory means inside the timepiece storing a
plurality of identification codes, means for selecting the code to
be transmitted and indicating the selection on the timepiece
display, and means for selectively transferring at least one
identification code from said memory means to said electro-optic
display portion and optically displaying said identification code
in binary form on the electro-optic display portion.
DRAWING
The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is
particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding
portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to
organization and method of practice, together with further objects
and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the
following description taken in connection with the accompanying
drawing in which:
FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 are plan views of various types of timepieces
with electro-optic displays according to the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a side view of a timepiece with stationary
opto-electronic sensor and comparator enabling a switch-actuated
device;
FIG. 6 is a similar side view an opto-electronic wand reader
illustrated in conjunction with a timepiece;
FIG. 7 is a simplified view of a lock mechanism actuated by such an
electro-optic identification timepiece;
FIG. 8 is a simplified schematic logic diagram associated with the
watch of FIG. 1;
FIG. 9 is a simplified circuit logic diagram of one type of PROM
preferred for the FIG. 8 timpiece;
FIG. 10 is a reverse view of the watch shown in FIG. 1,
illustrating the PROM programming apparatus;
FIGS. 11 and 12 are illustrations of two standard types of bar
codes in commercial use;
FIGS. 13a, 13b and 13c are enlarged schematic views of an optical
code pattern associated with a particular bar code an optical
waveform for transmitting same, and the binary code associated with
same;
FIGS. 14, 15 and 16 are simplified schematic diagrams for the
circuit logic associated with the watches of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4
respectively;
FIGS. 17 and 18 are plan and cross sectional views respectively of
a display for both digits and bar code.
FIG. 19 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an alternate push
button and electro-optic device utilized in the invention.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIGS. 1-4 of the drawing, various types of
timepieces are illustrated as wristwatches. FIG. 1 is a digital
watch having a six-digit solid state display, preferably a liquid
crystal display, which is substantially conventional in appearance
except for having an added electro-optic display portion 1, which
is controlled by push-buttons such as 2, 3 in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 2 is a quartz analog watch conventional in appearance with
hands 4 driven by a stepping-motor, but further including a code
selection ring 5 and an electro-optic portion 6 in the timepiece
dial, preferably an LED element and controlled by push-buttons such
as 7.
FIG. 3 is a watch with a six-digit digital display 8 and further
having a supplementary bar code display 9 controllable by
push-buttons 10.
FIG. 4 is a digital watch with a conventional digital display, but
which is transformable into a binary machine-readable display,
illustrated as 11, in response to actuation of push-buttons such as
12.
FIG. 5 is a stationary opto-electronic sensor 13 placed against the
face of a wristwatch 14 which may be any one of the watches
illustrated in FIGS. 1-4. Opto-electronic sensor 13 may be of the
type including a matrix of fiber optic rods connected to an array
of photo-sensitive diodes arranged to register with an entire
pattern of code as shown in the watches of FIGS. 3 and 4, or it may
comprise a single opto-electronic photosensitive element designed
to register with the single passive display 1 in FIG. 1 or the
single active LED element 6 in FIG. 2. A comparator 15 stores an
acceptable code pattern and when it matches with the code
transmitted by watch 14, a switch 16 is closed to actuate a device
17. For example, comparator 15 may contain a code permitting
operation of a copying machine, or might contain a code permitting
access to a bank lock box, and so forth. Similar opto-electronic
and comparator equipment is manufactured by Recognition Systems,
Inc. using laser light beams which detect a light and dark pattern,
conduct the image to a photosensor. The image is converted to a
computer signal which is then matched by the computer against
stored data. Laser based device using photosensors are also used in
optical bar code readers and are commercially available.
FIG. 6 is a watch 18 employed in conjunction with an
opto-electronic wand 19 connected to a portable data recorder 20.
The wand and data recorder are commercially available for reading
bar codes of various standard types, for example, a CI portable
code processor (PCP-2) produced by Computer Identics Corporation,
Westwood, Massachusetts. The wand may be used in conjunction with
the watches of FIGS. 1-3.
FIG. 7 is a watch 21 used as a transmitter of an electro-optic code
to a reader comparator 22 in a door lock. Transmission of the
proper "key" will cause an electric actuator 23 to open the lock
24. The lock and actuator may be similar to the optically actuated
lock in the aforementioned Roe U.S. Pat. No. 3,845,362. Electronic
comparison of the entered code may employ a coded access system as
described in "Microprocessors, Design and Applications" by A.
Veronis, Reston Publishing Company, Inc.
The details of the electro-optic sensors, comparators and actuators
of FIGS. 5-7 are not material to the present invention, except that
they are designed by known techniques to detect between either of
two optical states of the electro-optic display, in the case of an
"active" element detecting a light or no light and, in the case of
a passive element, detecting either the presence of a light or dark
image.
Referring to FIG. 8 of the drawing, the watch of FIG. 1 includes
some con-ventional elements comprising quartz crystal 30, together
with oscillator 31 to provide a timebase of high frequency pulses
on the order of 32K Hz, a count-down divider 32 of CMOS flip-flops
which reduce the frequency of the pulses to 1 Hz timed pulses on
line 33.
Means for storing time information comprises a "seconds" counter
34, "minutes" counter 35 and an "hours" counter 36. These normally
are divided into "units" and "tens" counters for each time
dimension and supplying a binary coded decimal (BCD) output over
the busses 37, 38, 39, each carrying 8 bits of information (four
bits for units and four bits for tens). Alternative types of
timekeeping storage would be to store variable information in a RAM
according to the aforementioned Bayliss patent.
Outputs from counters 34-36 are connected to BCD-to-7 segment
decoder drivers 40, 41, 42, which, in turn, are connected to
contact terminals for the segments making up digits, such as 43 on
the display 44.
The data from seconds counter 34 to decoder driver 40 flows through
a solid state multiplexer switch 45 which provides an alternate
supply of BCD data to decoder driver 40 via bus 46 when a signal is
applied to the control lead 47. Lead 47 is connected to the output
of an OR 63 which has all of its inputs connected to the code
select data outputs.
In accordance with the present invention, the low frequency output
from countdown divider 32 is connected to an AND 50 the other input
of which is connected to a "select" switch 49. The output of the
AND is connected to a code select device 51 which is advanced in
step-wise fashion to provide a sequence of BCD identification code
addresses to a programmable read only memory (PROM) 52 by means of
input bus 53 carrying an address. Preferably this is a 4 bit
address (providing 10 separate code addresses) but may be an 8 bit
address providing 100 separate addresses.
The output of PROM 52 is connected via data bus 54 to a parallel
input serial output register 55. The output data from register 55
controls a conventional single element display driver 56 whose
output is connected to terminals on the display controlling a pair
of segments which activate the electro-optic display portion 1 (see
FIG. 1). Clocking of the register 55 is effected by means of an AND
57, one input of which is connected to an intermediate frequency
tap on divider 32 and the other input to a "transmit" switch 58. A
counter 59 counts the clocking pulses from AND 57 to register 55
and resets the code select device 51 after a pre-selected number of
pulses.
The aforementioned elements are all of conventional design. Decoder
drivers 40-42 may be Type 4543 CMOS devices, register 55 may be a
group of parallel input CMOS 8 stage static shift registers,
counter 59 a Type 4020 14 bit binary counter.
The PROM 52 is preferably a MOS-FET electrically programmable read
only memory addressed only via a "row" decoder and reading out a
binary code via the "column" leads. The preferred memory element is
a silicon gate MOS-FET which is programmed by applying a high
junction voltage (in excess of 30 volts for a P channel device)
resulting in avalanche injection of electrodes to the floating
gate. This gate can be restored by illuminating with ultra violet
light, erasing the entire PROM array. However, the invention also
contemplates that part of the PROM cannot be erased. This part may
employ a fuse of polycrystalline silicon for each cell which is
"blown" by the programming high voltage.
FIG. 9 illustrates a 1K PROM 52 with "X" lines 101 and "Y" lines
102 inter-connected by memory cells 103, 104 which either provide a
conductive path or not between modes. Input to the PROM 52 is a BCD
address over 4 data lines 105 (part of bus 53) and output over 64
leads 106 (bus 54). Input is decoded by decoder 107 into 16 "X"
inputs, only 10 of which are required by the BCD address, leaving 6
addresses for other purposes. Output is enabled by AND gates 108
clocked by a signal on lead 109.
One type of memory cell 103 is permanently programmable, located at
least at one address 0,0,--0. A suitable cell 103 is shown in FIG.
9a. A polycrystalline silicon fuse 110 is blown during the
programming. Another type of memory cell 104 is shown in FIG. 9b.
This includes a floating gate FET which is constructed and
programmed as fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,036 issued to
Frohman-Bentchowsky on July 3, 1973. This type of memory cell may
be erased.
Although the PROM illustrated uses only 16 addresses and provides a
large 64 bit binary code word at the output (which is adequate for
a 7character code in Code 39 or for a 9 character UPC code), any
desired PROM arrangement may be employed. For example, a decoder
output may be used and the PROM may store codes for all Code 39
alpha numeric characters and sequentially output each character in
turn to the register 55. The PROM 52, although contained internally
in the watch is arranged to be programmed externally. Reference to
FIG. 10 illustrates a watch with two terminals 60, 61 exposed by
removal of a cover. Also the PROM itself is exposed when the cover
is removed for erasure, if desired, of the stored data by means of
U.V. radiation. A PROM programmer 62 is utilized to read successive
address input to the PROM and to program a corresponding output
code. The PROM is programmed to store a plurality of binary
identification codes at the output corresponding to a plurality of
addresses at the input, using techniques outlined, for example, in
PROM User's Guide, published by Pro-Log Corporation in (1977), or
in "Microprocessors: Design and Applications" by A. Veronis, Reston
Publishing Co. (1978), which are incorporated herein by
reference.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, at the
initial address PROM address 0,0,--0, a different and permanent
binary code is programmed at the factory which is unique to each
watch, thereby providing a unique "device" code. However, the PROM
also has memory cells of the type which are erasable by UV light
and is located in the watch as indicated in FIG. 10 so that all of
the codes may be erased when the cover is removed for this purpose,
except for the device code.
The code select device 51 shown in FIG. 8 is a modulo 10 BCD
counter suitable for driving decoder driver 40. All of the output
leads from the counter are also connected to an OR 63 whose output
is connected to the switch 45.
Operation of the device of FIG. 8 is as follows. Normally the code
select device 51 is in a reset condition with a zero count (code
address) input connected to PROM 52. The corresponding device
identification code is contained in register 55. Closing transmit
switch 58 while the watch display 1 is aligned with the
opto-electronic scanner causes a succession of high frequency
pulses to clock register 55 for serial output of 64 binary bits to
driver 56 causing electro-optic display 1 to alternate between
light and dark in accordance with the binary code contained in
register 55. As previously indicated, this code is unique to the
device, being programmed in the PROM at address 0,0--0. Solid state
switch 45 is not actuated since all of the outputs of mode select
51 or OR 63 are "0."
In order to select a particular code, for example a charge account
number or a social security number, the select switch is depressed.
BCD counter 51 starts to count at a 1 Hz rate. Since all of the
outputs are connected to the OR 63, any signal from the counter
actuates the solid state multiplexer switch 45. This causes the
output of the code select 51 to be transferred to the decoder
driver. A digital sequencing of the "units" display of what was
previously the "seconds" indicator commences. The sequential BCD
output of code select 51 also serves as sequential addressing of
the PROM 52, sequentially entering corresponding codes in register
55. When the desired number of code is reached, for example, "08"
signifying a bank account number, the select switch is released.
The opto-electronic reader or wand is placed in alignment again
with electro-optic display portion 1 on the watch. Then the
transmit switch 58 is depressed causing the contents of register 55
to be serially transmitted to driver 56 which causes the
electro-optic display 1 to turn off or on rapidly at a higher
clocking frequency determined by the intermediate tap from
countdown divider 32.
In accordance with the present invention, the code transmissions
from the electro-optic portion of the display may, if desired,
correspond to standard bar codes so that they may be read by
existing scanners with ease. Typical bar codes appear in FIGS. 11,
12 of the drawing. FIG. 11 shows Code 39 which is an alpha-numeric
code used in industrial product coding and consisting of narrow
bars, narrow spaces, wide bars and wide spaces. The wide bars and
spaces are three times the width of the narrow. Each character is
made up of 9 binary bits and 3 of the 9 bits are binary 1's. Binary
1's are represented by wide bars or spaces and binary 0's are
represented by narrow bars or spaces. FIG. 12 shows the more
familiar UPC code, which is a numeric code used on food products
primarily. This code generally consists of 10 numeric characters,
one character requiring 7 binary bits of information. Dark elements
represent 1's while light elements represent 0's.
It should be noted that, in the FIG. 8 form of the invention, the
bar code is fed in a time sequence series of light and dark
electro-optic states. Therefore the wand, rather than being drawn
across a series of light and dark printed patterns is held
stationary, and the light and dark patterns are presented in time
sequence to the wand or other type of opto-electronic reader.
Reference to FIGS. 13a and 13b of the drawing show two successive
UPC characters each to consist of 7 binary elements. For example,
the first character shows a dark narrow stripe 65 and the 4th
through 7th elements together make up a wide stripe 66. It will be
apparent that the same information is presented in time sequenced
fashion by activating an electro-optic element according to the
wave shapes shown in FIG. 13b by modulating the display between two
optical states of "dark" and "light." This modulation is performed
in accordance with the binary code in FIG. 13c transmitted from the
PROM. Here the 1's serve to activate the display and the 0's serve
to inactivate the display. A liquid crystal display is limited in
speed of "turn on" and "turn off" times to rates on the order of
50-200 milliseconds. At a rate of 100 milliseconds, this requires
6.4 seconds to transmit a 9 digit UPC code.
MODIFICATION--QA WATCH
Referring now to FIG. 14 of the drawing, a modification of the
invention is utilized in a quartz analog watch shown in FIG. 2. The
schematic diagram of such a watch is illustrated in FIG. 14 to
comprise quartz crystal, oscillator and countdown divider 30, 31,
32 which may be the same as those previously described. However,
the output from the countdown divider actuates motor drive circuit
70 which provides pulses to a stepping motor 71. The motor is
advanced in steps to drive a gear train 72 serving as time
information storage means, i.e. a mechanical memory, which is
periodically advanced to keep the time. The gear train 72 rotates
hands 73 to show the time on a conventional dial 74.
In accordance with the present invention, the timepiece display
which here comprises hands 73 and dial 74 further includes an
electro-optic display portion 75, which is a small LED, although it
could also be a small LCD, EC or other type of electro-optic device
capable of assuming 2 optical states. The timepiece further
includes a manually rotatable code select ring 76 which is provided
with an indicating marker 77 and a number of electrical contacts
circumferentially disposed around the ring and contacted by a
protrusion 79 beneath indicator marker 77. Similar rotatable rings
for a selector of numerical inputs and functions in a calculator
watch have been suggested in the aforementioned Sandstedt patent
and U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,037 issued Apr. 19, 1977 to Monna, but used
in connection with a digital display for a different purpose. Ring
76 is electrically grounded to the watch case and the
circumferentially disposed contacts 78 are connected over a data
bus 80 to a PROM 81. The output of the PROM is connected over a
data bus 82 to a parallel input, serial output register 83. The
register 83 is clocked by the output from an AND 84 having one
input connected to a transmit switch 85 and the other to an
intermediate frequency tap 86 from divider 32. The output from
register 83 is connected to LED driver 87.
The PROM 81, register 83, may be similar to those previously
described in connection with FIG. 8. Since only one lead of the
data bus 80 is grounded at a time, the leads may be led through
suitable buffer inverters to the "X" lines of the PROM without
decoding.
The operation of FIG. 14 is as follows: selection of a desired
identification code is made by rotating the ring 76 until the
indicated marker is opposite a selected portion of the timepiece
dial. This can be inscribed on the dial or known only to the user.
Closure of one of the contacts 78 selects an address for PROM 81
which causes an output binary code to be "jammed" in parallel into
register 83. Subsequently, the transmit switch 85 is closed and
pulses from the AND 84 cause a string of binary 1's and 0's to
actuate driver 87 which causes the LED 75 to emit a series of time
sequenced electro-optic signals to the opto-electronic reader. Use
of an LED provides a much faster transmission of data than is
possible with an LCD at the present state of the art. Therefore, it
may be beneficial to use an LED rather than an LCD in a QA watch
which does not already incorporate an LCD for time indication.
Although the LED is located on the watch dial in FIG. 2, it can
also be located else where on the timepiece and can be incorporated
in the transmit switch as shown in FIG. 19. There a watch case 101
contains a watch module 102 with an LED electro-optic portion 103
aligned with a push button 104. The push button 104 is sealed and
returned by gasket 105 and has a light transmitting central portion
106. A spring switch blade 107 is hollow and contacts terminal 108
when depressed. Contacts between 107 and 108 serve as the transmit
switch 85. The wand 109 and photosensitive element 110 serve to
depress the push button and close the transmit switch. The LED 109
will be read by the wand 109 while the push button 104 remains
depressed.
MODIFICATION--BAR CODE DISPLAY
The above-described arrangements contemplate a stationary
opto-electronic scanner. However, a movable wand may be employed if
desired to speed up data transmission by utilizing a special
section on the electro-optic display, as will be described in
connection with FIG. 15, corresponding to the watch of FIG. 3. This
provides a much faster readout of a bar code when a slower reacting
display type is used.
Quartz crystal 30, oscillator 31 and divider 32 are employed as
before to provide a timebase for providing timed pulses to the
seconds, minutes and hours counters 34, 35, 36 supplying decoder
drivers 40, 41, 42. As before, the "seconds" portion of the display
is utilized for also indicating the selected code. A solid state
multiplexer switch 45 is switched by the output from the OR device
63 whenever there is an address on the output of the code select
device 51 which does not comprise all 0's. The code select device
51 is a BCD counter as before which is advanced by the output from
AND 50, and the output from code select 51 is connected to a PROM
52. The foregoing elements in FIG. 15 function in the same manner
as in FIG. 8 previously described, where they have the same
reference number.
However the display itself indicated at reference 90 differs by
incorporating a special bar code section 9. This is a strip of
parallel segments individually led out to contact terminals and
connected to the output of a transmission gate decoder driver 91
whose input is connected to the output of PROM 52. A binary number
presented at the input of decoder driver 91 will simply actuate the
transmission gates when enabled by switch 91a, providing a
corresponding energizing or non-energizing of all segments on the
display. Thus information in a binary coded machine-readable format
is visually displayed as a bar code on the timepiece display which
corresponds to the numerical code selection also displayed in
digital form in place of the "seconds" digit.
Reference to FIGS. 17 and 18 illustrate a display for presenting an
electro-optic bar code on the same display which indicates the
time. The display pattern is illustrated in FIG. 17 plan view to
comprise conventional digits 92 disposed above a bar code display
9. The bar code display comprises a series of closely spaced
electrodes 9a.
The cross-section of FIG. 18 taken through the display along lines
AA of FIG. 17 show the arrangement of upper and lower electrodes on
the upper and lower display substrates. Common electrode 9b is
disposed on the lower substrate. The display may be of any
electro-optic type, and if the display 90 is a liquid crystal
display of the twisted nematic type, polarizer sheets (not shown)
are also required. The drawings of FIG. 17 and 18 are not to scale,
since the bar segments are very closely spaced and as small as
possible in order to provide the maximum information on the
display. A wand stroked across the electro-optic bar code pattern
will read the pattern in the conventional way.
MODIFICATION--RANDOM SEGMENT PATTERN
FIG. 16 illustrates yet another embodiment of the invention,
corresponding to the watch shown in FIG. 4. The code is displayed
all at once, but in a random segment pattern rather than in bar
code format. The quartz crystal, oscillator, countdown divider,
seconds counter, minutes counter, hours counter, decoder drivers,
AND, OR, and code selector are designated by the same reference
numerals 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 41, 42, 50, 63, 51 respectively as
before. Solid state switch 45, however, is interposed between the
output of the minute counter 35 and the decoder driver 41.
Additional solid state multiplexer switches 93, 94 are connected
between the decoder drivers 41, 42 respectively and the display
terminals. The alternate terminals for the switches 93, 94 are
connected to the output bus of a PROM 95.
A transmit switch 96 is connected to a toggle flip-flop 97. One
output from the flip-flop 97 is connected to a line 98 which, when
high, causes switches 94, 95 to transfer to the output data bus of
PROM 95 as shown in the drawing. The other output from flip-flop 97
is connected to a lead 99 which is connected to the reset of code
select 51. PROM 95 has a number of output leads corresponding to
the number of electro-optic segments accessed through switches 93,
94, here 23 segments for the 31/2 digits (excluding the colon
markers).
Operation of the device shown in FIG. 16 is as follows. The
electro-optic display, normally presenting intelligible
time-indicating digits, is employed alternatively to display a
binary code random segment pattern using the same segments as those
used to display digits. The pattern is not decoded and is
unintelligible except to the opto-electric scanner and comparator,
which has the identical pattern available or stored in it. The 31/2
digit display with a colon marker illustrated has 23 separtely
actuable segments. This presents the possibility of 2.sup.23
combinations. This represents over 8 million unique codes,
presenting the possibiility of a device code unique to each
timepiece for all practical purposes. Of course a six digit display
would provide a much larger number of unique codes.
Normally the code select counter 51 is in a reset condition and an
output of 0's serves as an address for PROM 95. PROM 95 is uniquely
programmed at the factory so that each device has a different
output for address 0,0,--0, as previously described. This code is
transmitted using switch 96.
A second selectable binary code is selected by actuating the select
switch 49 and advancing counter 51 at a 1 Hz rate. OR 63 transfers
the output of code selector 51 to the decoder driver 41 by
operating switch 45. Therefore, the code selection is displayed on
the "minutes" display.
When it is desired to transmmit the code pattern to the
opto-electric scanner, transmit switch 96 is depressed to toggle
the flip-flop 97. This activates switches 93, 94 to the position
indicated and causes the PROM 95 to activate the pattern of digits
corresponding to the selected code without decoding with the normal
decoder drivers 41, 42. Therefore, the first display pattern is a
code unique to the device, and a second pattern is selected by the
user.
It will be apparent that prior to transmission and after
transmission the timepiece is also displaying a pattern
corresponding to a unique time. A "time lock" feature will enable
additional security, and the scanner may be adapted to "read" three
successive patterns of codes shown on the display. In this manner,
three subsequent code patterns are transmitted which are (1) unique
to the device, (2) selected by the user and (3) indicative of the
time. A secure system with ability to indicate the time of
transmission of the code is enabled by this modification.
Thus there has been described an improved combination timepiece and
electro-optical identification device utilizing a memory in the
timepiece to store a plurality of identification codes and to
selectively transmit the code to an opto-electronic scanning
device. The code selected by the user is selected and displayed on
the timepiece display, either as a single binary coded pattern or
in a time sequence of binary coded optical variations. Although the
selection of codes and transmission is made herein using a manually
actuated switch, other types of actuating switches, including those
closed by radio signals, light signals, etc., may also be
employed.
Other modifications will occur to those skilled in the art and it
is desired to secure in the appended claims all such modifications
as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
* * * * *